BlogGlue

Greetings!

Here are a few of my favorite things: Nintendo, Penny Arcade, The Legend of Zelda, Mario, Pokemon, Harvest Moon, Fallout, Dungeons and Dragons, books, dice, Professor Layton, Shadow of the Colossus, Minecraft, and so much more. I'm going to talk a lot about video games, I sincerely hope you don't mind.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Today's gamer tattoo belongs to my friend Rachel. She got hers in March of 2011 from Silver City Tattoo in Poulsbo, Washington. My group of friends and I are fans of Brandon Stewart's work, and he happens to be a gamer himself, so he especially enjoys our requests.

Here's a little bit of information on Rachel's tattoo from the lady herself!

"Growing up I played outside or I played my Nintendo. I can't remember most of my childhood friend's names, but I can remember playing Mario for hours on end until my mom told me that dinner was ready. For me, those are happy memories, and so I wanted to get this tattoo as a nod to my childhood and what I spent my time doing. Mario wasn't the only game I played, but it was certainly my favorite and I thought this particular illustration was appropriate because I love Mario, I loved getting the raccoon tail, and of course Koopa Troopas are my favorite villain. Half the people I show my tattoo to are super excited about it and think it's great, and the other half don't understand and they think it's just some stupid tattoo I got of a video game character. But for me it actually has meaning. I'm a lifelong gamer, but it's always sort of been in the closet until recently. My husband has really brought out the inner geek in me and certain friends who are typing this right now [editors note: I transcribed this as she spoke :)] also inspired me to let out my geek and be proud of this hobby of mine." - Rachel
When she and I met she was so excited when she saw my Blooper tattoo. She told me how she wanted a Mario one but had met with less than favorable responses from a variety of people. My response was that if she wanted a Mario then she should get one, and to ignore the people who told her it was a bad idea. People will undersand it or they won't, and there was no reason to forgo her loves and interests for the sake of someone who would never "get" it.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Until the age of twenty I constantly swore that I'd never get any tattoos. I insisted there was nothing I liked so much to want it on my body, I couldn't decide where it would go anyway, and there was that crippling hypothetical paranoia that it would turn out poorly.

But bring on age twenty, and my best friend and I started talking about getting Triforce tattoos. We had been friends for so long, and we both loved the Legend of Zelda dearly. After a year of talking, planning, and deciding, we finally went for it.

On top of the Triforce having a pleasant and simple design, it has such a wonderful meaning. The symbol for power, wisdom, and courage, and the possessor, if their heart be pure, having the ability to bring the world into a golden age of prosperity.

Please enjoy this dark, out of focus photo of us showing off our new tattoos.Silver City Tattoo in Poulsbo, Washington.

Prior to the big day I encountered a fair amount of grief from outsiders regarding my tattoo of choice. They simply couldn't believe that something from a video game was a worthy subject for permanent body art. It was difficult to explain to them what, exactly, the Triforce meant to me. It was more than a game, it was also a symbol of my friendship with Jacki.

People could get onboard with the friendship thing (although some still found that to be a bad idea. "What if you stop being friends?"), but mostly they thought the Zelda aspect to be absurd ("What if in twenty years you don't play that game anymore?").

There's no way for me to know what's going to happen, or how I'm going to feel, in twenty years. I can only know how I think and feel now. I love video games so much, they are a huge part of my life, and I've played them since I could hold a controller. I've had my Triforce for over five years now and I don't regret it. It makes me smile, it brings me happiness. I'm reminded of fond memories of playing Ocarina of Time, and of my best friend and everything we've been through together.

People didn't question this decision nearly as much as they did for my Triforce. I guess once you have one gaming tattoo, it's not a big deal to get a second. They did wonder why Blooper, though. My answer for that is two fold: Mario is awesome, and I love sea life. I like to joke that it was a thrifty two-in-one tattoo, taking care of the need for a Mario tattoo and a sea life one. Bloopers also happen to be my favorite enemy in the Mario series.

And I love this little guy! I don't wear tank tops a lot, so whenever I do I feel pleased knowing that he's behind me staring at everyone that I pass. I also frequently forget that he's there, so sometimes I'll catch him in a mirror and spin around startled to get a better look. People ask me, "What is your tattoo?" to which I reply, "It's a Blooper, the squid enemy from Mario." It elicits strange looks from a fair number of inquirers, but at the very least everyone can agree that he's a cutie.

Check back through the next two weeks, because I'll be showcasing more gamer tattoos from my friends! See their art and hear their stories, and if you have a tattoo and story of your own please feel free to share it here!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

I have a very special relationship with Shadow of the Colossus. I... have a mental breakdown story surrounding this game that maybe I'll share someday (at least I'm pretty sure I've never shared it here...). It's full of tears, rage, and destruction.

Shadow of the Colossus is one of my absolute favorite games, and even though it's fairly well loved I still wish it had more recognition and merchandising. So when my friend showed me this UNbelievable external hard drive case, I lost my damn mind.

Definitely check out the article over at geekologie for in-progress photos as well as a little more information about it. I'll continue to sit and stare and cry over the beauty of the photo as well as the game.

Thanks to my friend Chavid for showing this to me and consequently blowing my mind for about four days.

Monday, January 14, 2013

By now I'm sure the overwhelming majority of people are aware of Munchkin, the "dumbed down" Dungeons and Dragons type card game from Steve Jackson. It's a brilliant little setup that accommodates nearly any number of players and is easy accessible to seasoned gamers and new comers alike. The rules can be a bit confusing at first, but after a few rounds everyone will be on the same page.

The original Munchkin game. There are eleven different versions! Source.

Munchkin is all about dungeon exploring, but there's no role playing involved. Players will collect items from treasure chests and level up from defeating monsters, all in the name of being the first player to reach level ten. The cards are all absurd and hilarious, and a lot of the "rules" set forth in the game box will just be broken by whatever the card in your hand says. One of the best rules of Munchkin is that players are allowed to make up their own rules, with the owner of the copy that is currently being played having ultimate power (at least that's how it has always been played in my circles).

This catches you up to speed on the gameplay style enough to tell my personal Munchkin story.

The first time I played I was with my best friend Jacki and two guys that we had recently met who also happened to be best friends. She and I listened carefully to the rules and then began to play. Very quickly alliances were formed, and backstabbery came out in abundance. Tyler and Xandre quickly turned on one another, but Jacki and I remained strong.

As the game progressed, Tyler became doubtful and leery of my alliance with Jacki. He taunted us, trying to generate fear and paranoia, insisting that one of us would turn on the other. Jacki and I just shook our heads and smiled, both confidently declaring that we'd never betray the other person. Eventually Tyler dropped out of the game, and it was us against Xandre. The taunts continued while Jacki and I smiled knowingly.

An entertaining sampling of the type of cards Munchkin has to offer. Source.

Finally, Xandre was out, and Jacki and I remained. The moment of truth was upon us. Tyler was gleeful, ready to watch the fur fly, when Jacki and I turned and faced one another.

"Tie?" she asked me.

"Tie," I agreed.

We laid down our cards and smiled across the table at Xandre and Tyler, who proceeded to exclaim loudly and disbelievingly that we couldn't do that. We begged to differ, though, because the set of Muchkin we were playing belonged to Jacki, and therefore, she could make up any rule she wanted. Including that of a tie.

A tweet from voice actor Erik Todd Dellums, or ThreeDog as we know him, hinted at the possibility of doing more work for the Fallout franchise, and, according to this article from gameranx, a fourth installment is in the works which gives Dellums' tweet even more weight:

"It's been a long time coming, and we all knew it was going to happen, but Fallout 4 is apparently a thing. It's been rumored to be in development for some time now, with some of its earliest rumors being traced back to Reddit about a year ago when a poster who claimed to be from M.I.T. said that game developers from Bethesda were scouting Boston for the setting in which Fallout 4 would take place."
Be sure to check out the full article for all of their speculation, and in the meantime freak out with me over the prospect of more adventures in the wasteland. I'm still chugging gleefully through my Fallout 3 file, and it's exciting to think of a brand new game waiting in the future.

I found this awesome tutorial over at Our Nerd Home and absolutely had to make it! I would list instructions here, but they outlined it better. You need black foamcore that is the appropriate size for the terrifying gaping fireplace hole that you wish to cover (like I did), a way to cut perfect squares (either a punch or a sliding paper cutter), appropriately (or inappropriately!) colored paper, a glue stick, and a lot of free time. Have fun!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

It would be easy for me to say that my first foray into the RPG genre happened with Final Fantasy IX, but that'd be dishonest. There's another game that I played frequently, and it came into my life years before Final Fantasy did.

The point and click of yore: Dragon Court from Fiends.com

When I was in seventh grade or so my friend introduced me to Dragon Court, a java based point and click adventure game. It involved dragon slaying, vagrant evading, item selling, sword wielding, and leveling up. There were all manner of devious enemies in-game, and players could send letters as well as items to their in-game friends.

I spent many happy hours wandering with my character trucker_man (I'm pretty sure that was his name and I have NO idea why. Don't question the mind of a twelve year old, I guess). I had a few different characters that I played, but I progressed the farthest with him. The game starts off with easy quests in the field just past the castle, and as your character levels up you venture farther into the woods, and eventually into the mountains.

The mountains contained the dreaded dragon, and never once did I bring the noble beast down. I'm not sure which game it was that dragged me away from the world of Dragon Court, but it's a safe bet that it was probably Ocarina of Time. Has anyone else out there played Dragon Court? Do you know of any other gem-like browser based games that you want to share?

abitofgeek on Twitter!

abitofgeek on tumblr!

Followers

About Me

I like to write about the fun things I do. When I'm not screaming at spiders for being in my house, I can be found writing, playing video games or paper crafting. A Bit of Geek is where I put my thoughts and activities.